HANSON — New Hanson firefighters Christopher Harris and Tyler Bryant were sworn in by Town Clerk Beth Sloan.
Harris’ badge was pinned on by his mother and Bryant’s by his fiancée.
“Congratuations to our two newest firefighters and their proud families who were here to witness it,” Selectmen Chairman Bruce Young said after they took their oath.
Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr., thanked the board for the ceremony in his remarks.
“As we know, we’ve gone through some significant personnel changes, so they’re not the ‘newest,’ they’re ‘newer,’” Thompson said.
Thompson and the four department lieutenants interviewed each candidate, asking questions and evaluating their knowledge of EMS and situational scenarios, rating them on their performance and establishing a hiring list.
“We’re fortunate to have dual-trained firefighters — they’re firefighter/paramedics — and they come to us they are already trained as paramedics,” he said, adding that paramedic training is a requirement. The two things that get them to the swearing-in ceremony is passage of the nine-week firefighter academy course, both were members of recruit class 223 in February, and a one-year probationary period.
“I’m proud to say they did a pretty good job and their probationary period was over in July,” Thompson said.
A Plympton native, Harris was a call firefighter for five years and had worked for a private ambulance company “in a busy 911 system,” according to Thompson. Bryant grew up in Hanson and had been a student intern with the department through the WHRHS Community Service Learning program and also worked for a private ambulance service, but prior to being hired by HFD, had been a career firefighter in Halifax.
— Tracy F. Seelye